LMHSHC!
by HappilyHappyMacaron
Summary: After being betrayed by her first love, Kyoko finds she still has a spot at LMHS and happily attends. There, she soon discovers the secrets behind a certain closed door in an empty hallway... AU kind of thing, not a crossover.
1. Welcome to

**I do not own Skip Beat! or Ouran High School Host Club, or any other un/intentional references I might make! **

Ch 1: Welcome to...

Kyoko sighed for the third time as she ducked her head out of yet another noisy room. It was so hard for her to get some peace and quiet at this place, but there was no way she was going back to where she was before. Right now, all she wanted to do was find a deserted corner to wallow in.

She shielded her eyes against the brightness of the blue sky smiling at her from the twenty feet tall glass windows and felt a headache coming on. Looking back, she found it was amazing how foolish she'd been. The idiotic, lost-in-love, servile Kyoko from before would've never imagined the horrors that awaited her. But, back then, she had been in love. And back then, there was Sho. Fuwa Sho had been her everything – childhood friend, magical prince, crush – he had taken over her entire life. Their parents were good friends, but Kyoko's died in a car crash and she was sent to live with the Fuwas, helping out in their inn. At least, that was until high school.

Thinking back to that day made bubbles of anger rise up in Kyoko's chest. She clutched her school books to her chest and growled, while the other students wandering the halls nervously edged away from the black aura surrounding her. Not caring where she was going, Kyoko turned another corner.

It had gone like this. Kyoko had just retrieved the mail after a long school day. However, she was bursting with happiness, as she had found one letter for her from LMHS, the high school she had been dreaming of going to for years. Ripping it open and quickly reviewing the contents, she dumped the rest of the mail on the kitchen table and dashed up the stairs to tell Sho the good news.

"Sho! Sho!" Kyoko tore open his door with a grin on her face.

"What now?" Sho pinned her down with an irritated glare, plucking a few notes on his guitar with a moody look on his face.

"Guess what? I made it! Sho, I'm going to – "

"So. You're leaving me?" It was more of a statement than a question. Sho plunked his guitar down, his eyes hard and cold.

"Huh?" Kyoko stood in the doorway, her happiness evaporated.

"I was going to tell you sooner, but…" Sho stood up and walked to where a confused and slightly heartbroken Kyoko was standing.

"I want you to come with me." It took a moment for the words to register in Kyoko's mind.

"You want me to _what_?" Kyoko's acceptance letter dropped to the floor.

"Kyoko. You know it's always been my dream to go to a school that is directed towards talented people such as myself, like Akatoki...And Akatoki High has accepted me…but…my parents are against it…and I need you."

"What about me? Where do I go?" Kyoko had whispered.

"I promise I'll make it up to you. Please, Kyoko. Please come with me!" He had looked at her with pleading eyes, and without another thought, she had made her decision. Back then, as she hugged him tight, Sho had fingered her long, black hair, murmuring that it was what he loved best about her. She had fallen for every single sweet word. After they left for Tokyo and Akatoki, there were none.

Sho. He had hurt her so badly. He almost ruined her chances of getting into the high school she worked so hard for. Kyoko was almost glad that he had broken her heart, even if that meant she would never love again. She had made it here. Granted, she had missed the first few months of school, but for some reason or another, the school principal had insisted that she be able to transfer in. From what she heard in the halls, Lory Takarada was rather frightening and eccentric, albeit kind in his own strange way. Kyoko didn't know what to think of him, but she was immensely grateful.

She rounded another corner and almost stopped. Another snarl threatened to rip out from her throat, and she resisted the urge to rip down the abominable thing. There, pinned high up on the corridor wall was a poster of none other than _him_, announcing his first single_. _A group of girls, oblivious to the murderous intent behind them, stood cooing over Sho's picture, in all its five foot glory. Evidently, the girls at this school were as affected by Sho's charm as girls anywhere else. Muttering dark things under her breath, Kyoko glared at Sho, and being momentarily blinded, began to bang her head on the wall, trying to get that over-confident, self-centered smirk of his out of her head.

The girls, who had been fully occupied until that moment, looked at Kyoko, with her mussed hair and blood streaming down the middle of her forehead, not to mention that killer glare, whispered to each other and hurried away. Kyoko dabbed at her head with the edge of her sleeve and propped herself up against the wall.

Sho gloated down at her, that egotistic, selfish, jerk. Seeing that the hallway was abandoned, Kyoko unleashed her grudges, letting them fly out in full force. With screeches of glee, they ravaged the poster, ripping it to shreds. _Sho, you bastard. _Kyoko had, one day during her lunch break, decided to deliver Sho a fast food meal from her workplace. And she had almost walked in on him and his teacher. His pretty, full-chested, mature teacher. Neither of them had seen her, much to her relief. Sho had never really noticed her, after all. But he had studied her long enough to tell his teacher what a plain, boring, old-fashioned and ugly girl she was. Kyoko had fled.

She had stayed at their rented apartment only long enough to gather her things and take the little money she had left from all her part-time jobs. She would leave Sho to take care of the other things.

In a supermarket's bathroom, Kyoko had chopped off all her long, black hair, hair that Sho had once said he loved. Even imagining him running it through his fingers made her shudder with anger and pain. That hair now barely covered her ears, and her bangs were messily hacked at, the ends chopped into fine points. After getting on a bus, she had dropped into an exhausted rest, tears dripping down her face. They dumped her off at the next stop.

Said hair was now bleached and dyed to an auburn color. It was a process that had taken all of an hour, and very little money. It had gotten rid of the one thing Sho had complimented her on. Kyoko was now staying with an old couple she had worked part-time for while desperately trying to pay the rent and Sho's school fees. They had grown fond of the energetic, hard-working girl, and the only condition was that she would continue to help in their restaurant on weekends. Kyoko had readily agreed, knowing that she would never return to Sho's apartment, and that his parents would probably never accept her again. And she had LMHS to go to.

So that was how she ended up here, at LMHS, the abbreviation of the rather long title, "Lory's Magnificent High School". Strange names aside, Kyoko knew that it was ranked number one in the country in terms of academics, and she had heard that many people who graduated went on to become famous, not that she knew who any of them were. But, she had never been one to care about such things. Because, back then, academics and Sho were the only two things she lived for. It was because she had wanted to make her parents proud that she had studied so hard to get into LMHS. And Sho had almost ruined that.

Feeling drained, Kyoko dragged herself up, continuing down the hall until she met a set of carpeted stairs, with an extravagant looking double set of doors at the top. All of her instincts, and her grudges, screamed "NO", but she went up anyway, and put her hand on the door.

**AN: So...first fanfic, short and prologue-y. Hope the run-on-like sentences didn't hurt your head too much D:: Please keep reading, I promise the other characters will show up soon, and there might actually be dialogue... :D **


	2. LMHSHC!

**I do not own Skip Beat! or Ouran High School Host Club, or any other un/intentional references I might make! **

Ch 2: ...Lory's Magnificent High School Host Club!

For a moment she was blinded. Kyoko's eyes were bombarded by sparkles, roses, and other glittery things. When she finally saw beyond the flashes of light, her heart dropped to the pink-tiled floor, her grudges fainted, and she wished that her eyes were still blinded.

"Welcome to Lory's Magnificent High School Host Club!" a chorus of voices shouted. An elephant trumpeted somewhere in the distance and several party poppers went off. Kyoko stared with her mouth gaping open and her books scattered around her feet in a messy semi-circle.

"Hello, young child," a mustached man in an extravagant French emperor's costume said, sidling up to Kyoko. "How may this wonderful Host Club entertain you today?"

"U-umm…." Kyoko hurriedly bent down to retrieve her books, avoiding eye contact with the over-dressed stranger. Her grudges, meanwhile revived, desperately tried to drag her towards the door. Suddenly, a large hand entered her field of vision. Kyoko shrank back against the door in fear, her grudges cowering behind her. The tall man in front of her straightened up, her math textbook in his hand. He looked momentarily confused, then flashed her an extra bright, gentlemanly smile. Kyoko's grudges fainted again. Goosebumps started crawling up her arms.

"Do you need any help?" the man asked in a smooth voice. Kyoko tried to break through the door by scooting back. Unfortunately, it held.

"N-n-nnooooooo!" she screamed, grabbing the door handle above her head. To her surprise, it came off in her hand and fell on her head. She slowly blacked out to voices saying "Whoa, would you look at that? It's a guy!" and "Did he just black out?".

For a while, all was silent.

…

When Kyoko came to, several hours later, the late afternoon sun was sending golden rays through a row of elegantly draped windows. She sat up and immediately collapsed back down, her head pounding in protest of the sudden movement.

"Ah, he's awake," a bored sounding voice remarked. Kyoko's eyes snapped open. She blinked, and said, "Umm…no, you've got it wrong! I'm – "

"Mogami-kun, aren't you," a booming voice exclaimed joyfully.

"No! My name is Kyo-"

"Kyo-kun, then? A good name, a very good name," a boy with light brown hair remarked thoughtfully, looking at her with a strange look in his eyes.

"Hikaru, I never knew you liked young boys. Well, I suppose it would be fitting…" a blond guy commented, earning a loud smack from the one called Hikaru.

"Mogami-kun. You broke our door," the tall, black haired man from earlier pointed out lightly. Kyoko followed his gaze and gasped at the gaping hole in the rosy pink door, where the golden door handle used to be.

"GYAH! I'm SOO SOO SORRYY!" she wailed, jumping up and smashing her forehead on the floor in a dogeza. "I'll do anything to repay you, anything! I'll boil myself alive or shave myself bald or I'll feed myself to a pack of wild dogs or I'll become your slave for life or or or….JUST DON'T KICK ME OUTTTT!" she finally cried, repeatedly bashing her head against the floor in between words.

"Hmm…the slave thing doesn't sound too bad," a guy with cropped hair said, stroking his chin. The tall, black haired man glared at him and he shut up.

"Mogami-kun!" the tall man said sternly, peeling her off the floor.

"What?" she asked with a sniff, tears streaming out from her eyes. The man smiled at her. She froze.

"You've dented out floor." Kyoko looked at the floor, and sure enough, there was a deep dent in the tile, cracks sprouting forth from it. She opened her mouth to apologize again, but before she could, a glasses man accompanied with an angry looking, but beautiful woman appeared in front of her.

"Mo! We just replaced the tile yesterday!" the girl exclaimed, clearly frustrated.

"Ahh…calm down Kotonami-san, I'll call the tile company right away!" the glasses man said nervously, pulling out a pair of latex gloves and a cell phone. The girl slapped the phone out of his hand with a ferocious glare and the man visibly jumped with a small "eek!". There was a long silence, the only sound being the phone clattering across the tiles.

"Ahem." The figure dressed like King Louis XVI cleared his throat and strode up to Kyoko. "Welcome to Lory's Magnificent High School Host Club!" he announced again grandly, throwing his arms up into the air, his cape flapping out behind him. An elephant trumpeted and several horns blew a fanfare.

"Everybody gather around. Come on, what are you waiting for? Introduce yourselves!" he said with a grin. Most of the members merely shrugged, and the girl rolled her eyes. She spoke up first, sticking out her hand.

"Kotonami Kanae. I'm here against my will to pay my school fees," she muttered, giving the Louis XVI cosplayer a cold glare.

"I'm Yashiro, Yashiro Yukihito. I take care of most of club functions along with Kanae, but the girls have seemed to take a liking to me, so I'm number four here," said the glasses man happily, with a slightly distressed glance in Kanae's direction.

"Er…pleased…to meet…" Kyoko said uncertainly, ignoring the blood that had started trickling down her forehead again.

"I'm Uesugi Hiou. Number three. Stay away from Kanae if you know what's good for you," a short boy who resembled an elementary school child said, with a glower that rivaled Kanae's. That remark earned an exaggerated eye roll from Kanae, who began flipping through a thick planner with a frown on her face.

"I'm…" Kyoko was at a loss for words.

"We're the Ishibashi brothers, ranked at number two," three voices said in unison. Kyoko turned her head slightly to acknowledge the trio, a smile plastered on her face.

"Shorty here is Hikaru," said the blond guy, shoving the shorter, brown-haired guy playfully. "He's the only real Ishibashi here. I'm Yuusei, by the way," the blond guy continued, running a hand through his gel-spiked hair.

"Yo. The name's Shin'ichi. Ignore Hiou, he's just sore about being even shorter than you and Hikaru," the guy with a dark-cropped haircut said, giving Kyoko a friendly grin.

"Ehhehe. Pleased to meet you…three…" Kyoko nodded politely at them. The black haired man finally stepped up. Kyoko gave him a wide-eyed stare as she cowered in his large shadow, and wondered why she suddenly felt like running away.

"Number one, Tsuruga Ren." He gave her a cold smile. Kyoko gulped. There was a pause.

"And I'm Takarada Lory! Your most beloved principal!" the middle-aged cosplayer said, prompting the fanfares to go off again.

"Principal?" Kyoko asked, almost disbelieving.

"Yes and how do you feel about becoming a member of this exclusive host club?" he asked. Kyoko blinked again.

"Say what?" The girl called Kanae muttered several foul words under her breath and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Well, here we go again," Yashiro remarked, going after his cell.

"Wh-why would I want to be a host?" Kyoko exclaimed, completely horrified.

"You _did _break our door. And dented my beautiful tiles," Lory reminded her.

"I'm so sorry about that! BUT I DON'T WANT TO!"

"So tell me, Mogami-kun. Why are you here?"

"Umm…because this is…a very good school!" she said brightly.

"Can you tell me what kind of school?" he prompted.

"I don't knoowwwwww!" she said, starting to cry again.

"It's a school for talents! The most gifted people in the country! And this Host Club is where our wonderful fresh-faced young men work to improve their skills!"

"No, it's just for your personal entertainment," Kanae muttered.

"SAY WHAT?" exclaimed Kyoko, ignoring Kanae's comment, and instead procuring the school's brochure from who knows where. She flipped through it, scanning over the lines. "Hah!" She pointed to a spot. "Here! It says this school is first in the country for academics! _That's _why I came!"

Lory chuckled lightly. "The truth, dear Mogami-kun, is that this school is for talents of all kinds. It just so happens that I find that those who are academically gifted are also talented in many ways, and that seems to put our school ahead of the others in this area. And, I, spotting your immense potential for greatness, have decided for you to become part of this Host Club!"

"Yes. And we have just learned that the Akatoki High School Host Club has recently acquired a seventh member who also happens to be a gifted, or so they say, musician. His name is Fuwa or something something. But we must not lose to Akatoki High at any cost, and if the number of members puts us behind, then this is where you come in!" Hikaru explained from his seat. At the words "Akatoki" and "Fuwa", Kyoko's ears perked up. Her grudges began reawakening.

"_What did you just say_," she growled, her eyes beginning to flame. Kyoko's grudges basked in her feelings of intense hatred and flew around her head, giggling. _That two-faced jerk who almost cost me my full scholarship and high school life! The one who tore my heart into shreds! He's there!_

"It's just the number of members! And we're not forcing you or anything!" Hikaru said quickly, throwing his arms up in front of his face in defense.

"So if I join this host club of yours, I can kill Fuwa, righhhhtttt? And if I become a better host than he is, then I can laugh in his stupid face and gloat over him and grind him to the dust for everything he's done, riiigggghhhttt?" A smile began twisting up the corners of Kyoko's mouth. Off to the side, Shin'ichi was whispering to Yuusei.

"What do you think happened?" Yuusei asked.

"Maybe that Fuwa guy took Kyo's girlfriend," answered Shin'ichi.

"Ahh…that does seem to be the usual case. But have you seen this Fuwa guy?"

"Kyo probably doesn't even have a chance…"

"Poor kid. But I'll support him with all I have for him to regain his wonderful lost love!"

"As will I!" Shin'ichi and Yuusei fist-bumped each other. Ren rolled his eyes at their idiotic antics and turned his attention back to Kyoko. She seemed to have just realized something, and her frightening looking aura was simmering down again.

"Umm…you have Kanae…" she started.

"It's Kotonami-san! Mo! All of you idiots may refer to each other on a first name basis but I refuse to be a part of it!" Kanae barked, slamming her papers down.

"Ko-kotonami-san! So if you have her, why would you need somebody like me?" Kyoko finished timidly. Kanae banged her head on the table at such a stupid question.

"Well, Mogami-kun, it is because Kotonami-san is a lady. She is merely here to help Yukihito-kun manage the club, and by doing so is paying off her school fees," Lory said, an amused tone in his voice.

"Oh…I suppose you're right…Kotonami-san is so beautiful and just like a princess…and I'm just plain and ugly and I have no sex appeal…" Kanae gagged at this and Hiou started glaring at Kyoko again. Meanwhile, Kyoko was sinking deeper and deeper into an ocean of despair, remembering _him._

"I disagree, I think that you are, in fact, very cute," Lory assured her, with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I…I am?" Kyoko asked, staring up at him balefully with tears in her wide golden eyes.

"Yes, Mogami-kun, you are. I have reasons to believe that your hidden talents, along with your unique attractive attributes will bring many new customers to our Host Club. Which is why you are now officially our seventh member! Congratulations!"

It was only then that Kyoko realized the important fact that had managed to slip her mind. They thought she was a guy.

**AN: Yayyy second chapter. Feeling drained. Ahahahaha. Hope you're enjoying the story (although there isn't very much of it so far). Sorry if things confuse you or if there are errors/repetitive things. I'll attempt to sort it out a bit...later... :D GAH. Just realized that Ren has like two lines in this entire thing ;_; I should give them alone time. Or something. See you in the next chapter!**


	3. Friend

**I do not own Skip Beat! or Ouran High School Host Club, or any other un/intentional references I might make!**

Ch 3: Friend

The next day Kyoko was observing club activities.

"Moookkoooo-saaaaannn," she said, a goofy grin on her face. Kanae, who was sitting across from her at a mahogany tea table, slammed down the lid of her laptop and gave Kyoko a scalding glance.

"What's with the 'Moko'?" she asked.

"We're friends, aren't we?" Kyoko returned. She had earlier discovered that Kanae was in her class.

"Mo! I've only known you for one day and you've already given me a stupid pet name?"

Kyoko nodded happily. "It's because I can't call you 'Kanae', Moko-san!"

"You can't call me Moko either! We hardly know each other!"

"Mokooooo-saaaaaannnnn!"

"Mo! Do whatever!" Kanae slumped down in her plush armchair, her head in her hands. She was at a loss. What was one supposed to do with a creepy guy who acted like a stalker? She narrowed her eyes at Kyoko, noticing for the first time what she was wearing.

"You. What's with your clothes?" Kanae asked.

"Eh?" Kyoko looked down. She thought she looked completely normal. After all, stuff like this was all she could afford. Her scholarship hadn't included a uniform, so she had on a short-sleeved shirt and some worn navy blue sweats with holes in the knees.

"I mean, what is with that shirt?" Kanae said with a kind of disgusted fascination. Kyoko's shirt was an atrocious pink color that was assaulting Kanae's eyes. And then there was a golden horse prancing against a background of roses, with a figure of Lory riding on top, waving a heart-embroidered flag. Kanae shuddered.

"Principal-san gave it to me! Isn't it great? Aren't the colors magnificent?" Kyoko asked.

"It's hideous. Go ask the principal for a regular uniform."

"I've already taken advantage of his kindness enough," Kyoko said quietly. Kanae snorted, but she saw that Kyoko was serious. She sighed.

"Don't worry about it. He practically spends his life being generous. Now come on. I'll get you a new uniform with the club funds." Kanae stood up and dragged Kyoko with her, who never stopped protesting on the way.

Hiou had seen the entire interaction, and when they left together, he slammed his teacup on his table, startling the girls sitting with him.

"Oh my! Are you okay, Hiou-kun?" a girl asked with a worried expression. Hiou forced a pleasant smile back on his face and turned to the girl, who at that moment was thinking how adorable Hiou was.

"It's nothing."

Meanwhile, Ren had been entertaining a group of five girls. They sat on several rose-hued couches with a low coffee table in between.

"Tsuruga-san, would you be interested in…coming home with me after school? My parents have been dying to meet you," a pretty girl with long, dark brown hair pulled into a half-bun asked, touching him flirtatiously on the arm. Ren took her hands in his, effectively removing them from his arm, and smiled regretfully.

"I am deeply sorry, Ruriko-sama, but if I do that," here, he cast the other four girls a seductive glance and gently deposited Ruriko's hands on her lap, "the others might get jealous, right?" All four girls swooned and fainted while the girl next to Ren pouted.

"Aww, you always say no, Tsuruga-san!" She heard him chuckle and she looked up in surprise, wondering if he was finally responding to her flirting. But no.

Ren covered his mouth as he smiled again, looking at a short, auburn-haired guy in a distasteful pink t-shirt. The boy was conversing with an irritated looking girl, who dragged the panicked looking boy out of the room through a side door. Ren looked at the door for a moment longer, wondering why those golden eyes seemed so familiar. Ruriko grabbed his arm and hung on to it. _So. He pays attention to a guy, but not a girl like _me_?_

"Tsuruga-san, who was that? He was….cute," Ruriko said, feigning sweet innocence. Ren seemed to snap out of his daze.

"Oh. Him?" Ren frowned as if he was suddenly remembering something unpleasant and Ruriko nodded eagerly.

"His name…Mogami Kyo…the principal wants him to be a new host," Ren replied. Ruriko smiled.

"I want to request him!"

…

"Here. Put it on." Kanae shoved a plastic wrapped bundle into Kyoko's arms.

"I can't possibly wear it! Such a thing…it's improper! I can't take it without paying!" Kyoko protested, trying to give it back to Kanae.

"Listen. If you're not serious about being a host, then leave. If you are, take the uniform. No girl in their right mind would request you if you're wearing something like _that._"

"But-"

Kanae gave Kyoko a long look. "I can't believe I'm trying to convince you to do this. Normally, I would tell you to run away as fast as your legs can take you. But I heard those Akatoki jerks have been beating us at the annual Host Club Battle for years, and the principal said that he would close down LMHS's Host Club if we lost again. I need to stay here to pay off my school fees, and the other members are serious about reaching their dreams through this club. So it's your choice, but the principal has accepted you, and no one else, so I think I will too. Besides, who knows what kind of horrendously embarrassing punishment he might give us if you don't join," she muttered darkly as an afterthought.

Kyoko took a deep breath and held out her hands. "I also want to beat Akatoki I need to prove to Sho that he was wrong for betraying me!"

"Sho?" Kanae asked. _Maybe those Ishibashi brothers were right about Fuwa stealing Kyo's girlfriend. _"Whatever. Go get changed. I don't think I can stand seeing that ridiculous shirt any longer."

Kyoko nodded with renewed happiness and nearly skipped to the dressing rooms. Kanae felt confused, watching the boy go. There was just something a little…off…about him. Then she looked down and noticed that she was still holding the tie. _Crap. _She quickly glanced at the dressing rooms and heaved a sigh. Kanae headed into the club's dressing rooms (after all, nearly half of the school's west wing was dedicated to the principal's projects) and called out, "Hey! I have your tie!" No answer. Kanae raised an eyebrow and walked down the line of dressing rooms. She heard a scuffling sound near the end and a small yelp. Walking faster and almost breaking into a run, she heard a loud thud. _Is he being kidnapped? Did he get attacked? Mo! Why do I have to babysit him? …but he's the Host Club's important member…_ Despite herself, Kanae was starting to feel just a little worried. It was enough.

"Are you alright?" Kanae flung open the heavy pink velvet curtains and was met with a strange sight. Her eye twitched.

"Moko-saaaannnn…." Cried Kyoko from the carpeted floor, where the uniform's black pants were pulled halfway up her legs and the white shirt lay unbuttoned on top of a light pink tanktop.

"I tripped and now I can't get up!"

"You. You're a girl! I was tricked!" Kanae screamed, dropping the tie to the floor. She clung to the curtains and sobbed on it. _I can't take this anymore!_

"Mooookkkoooo-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT! What are you, _a girl_, doing in a _Host Club _of all things?" She pointed an accusing finger at Kyoko, fully forgetting that just five minutes ago, she was trying to get Kyoko to join.

Kyoko pasted a clueless smile on her face.

"Everybody thought I was a guy and when I protested they didn't listen, and then Principal-san told me to become a host, and then people kept saying 'Fuwa' and 'Akatoki' and I got carried away…"

"Mo! You're such an idiot! Why did I have to get involved with such a…"

"Mookooo-saannn…" Kanae swore she could see a line of bright pink hearts with those words.

"Now that you know my secret, we're frrrriiiieeeenndddss, aren't we?" asked Kyoko, an adoring smile on her face. Kanae found it creepy. Who was this person? And shouldn't she be the one doing the threatening? Kane closed her eyes and took a long breath.

"You. Are coming back with me. To tell everyone you're a girl!" she exclaimed at long last, pulling Kyoko off the floor.

"Mookooo-sannn?"

"What?" Kyoko kept smiling, and Kanae felt a cold sweat break out at the slightly dangerous look in her eyes. Kyoko moved closer.

"Best friends! Friends forever and ever and for all of eternity, for as long as we remain in this Host Club!" An alarmingly dark aura began to rise from Kyoko. Suddenly, Kane found that her arms were bound to her sides by what looked like miniature Kyokos, and her feet were likewise tied in place.

"Hold on just a second, Moko-san!" Kyoko said cheerily, grabbing the tie off the floor and ducking into another dressing room, her pants fully pulled up.

"Mmff!" Kane was left outside, unable to move. The next time Kyoko emerged, she was fully dressed in the uniform, which consisted of black trousers, a white collared shirt with little black buttons, and a gray, black-edged blazer. To top it off, there was the tie, black with a single hot pink stripe running down the middle to show she was a member of the Host Club. Embroidered in gold stitches at the bottom right-hand corner of the blazer was LMHS's logo, the golden horse with a heroic-looking principal perched on top, and as many details as one could possible include in a 7x7 cm space.

Now that Kanae knew Kyoko's true gender, she couldn't help noticing the girly parts – like those slender limbs, that delicate face, those large golden eyes… Kyoko unbound her grudges from around Kanae who collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

"Are you feeling sick, Moko-san?" asked Kyoko, a worried expression on her face.

"Mo! How stupid are you? Do I look okay?" she panted, rubbing her neck. She could still feel the ghostly hands dragging her down when she tried to run away.

"I'm sorry, Moko-san. But you can't tell anyone my secret, okay?" Kyoko smiled sweetly.

"Fine! Let's just go back already!"

Kyoko all but bloomed a garden of flowers, then and there.

"By the way, why is Hiou-kun in the Host Club?" Kyoko wondered aloud while they were walking back to the club room.

"What about him?" Kanae asked.

"Ah…he just looks like an elementary school student."

"Oh. Technically, he should be in middle school, but he is something of a child genius so he ended up skipping a couple of grades. And girls are always tripping over his cute face, so the principal recruited him," Kanae explained.

"Hiou-kun's amazing!" Kyoko exclaimed, her eyes shining. Kanae rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever."

…

It had been a long day. After the club closed its doors, and she was finally done shifting the around the monthly allowance to make up for Kyoko's uniform, Kanae tiredly shouldered her bags and got ready to leave. Somewhere along the way, Hiou caught up with her.

"Kotonami-san." He nodded at her stiffly.

"Hello," Kanae replied absentmindedly. Hiou suspected that her strange mood had something to do with the overly friendly Kyo. He grit his teeth and for the fourth time, wished that he hadn't skipped so many grades. If only he was still a first-year student and not a second-year…

"Did something happen with the new member?" he asked. A dark look passed over Kanae's face, but she shook her head, all the while muttering things to herself.

"He just seems…too friendly. You…y-you should stay away from him! Or no, he should be staying away from you!" Hiou burst out, a slight blush coloring the tips of his ears. Kanae stopped for a moment and picked up his meaning. A worn but marginally sardonic smile twisted up a corner of her mouth.

"Oh, don't worry about that. He isn't interested in girls…"

"Huh?" Hiou stopped in confusion, chewing on the thought. Kanae slumped along, supporting herself with the wall. A dark cloud loomed over her, and Kyoko's words kept repeating in her head. _Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever…._

…

The principal had pulled Kyoko aside when she got back from changing into the uniform.

"Good job, Mogami-kun!" he congratulated her, throwing an armful of roses and confetti into the air.

"Eh? For what?" Kyoko asked, wide-eyed.

"For what? For getting your first customer of course!"

"My…my first customer…?" Kyoko could hardly believe her ears. Now, she was back in her room at the Daramuya restaurant, and she was gloating over Sho's poster, which she had pinned up on her wall to remind herself of her quest for revenge.

"HAH! I'm catching up! Just you wait, I shall crush you to pieces like you threw me away!" An evil smile lit up her face, and somewhere in his teacher's apartment, Sho felt some chills and sneezed. Kyoko collapsed to her futon in a daze of happiness. She rolled over and took out a flat, dark blue stone from a pouch by her bedside. Cradling it in her palms, she held it up in front of her, looking at it glitter.

"I won't be sad anymore, Corn. So many things happened today. I got my first customer…and…and I got a friend! Thank you, Corn." She pressed her lips lightly to it, finding comfort in the cool feeling against her face. A few minutes later, she was fast asleep with the stone safe between her fingers.

**AN: Whheeeeee the chapters are getting longer and longer XD lots of random dialogue in this one, and barely any Ren time. But he's starting to get interested :D I'm trying to kinda follow the OHSHC storyline, so you can probably guess what happens in the next chapter. Anyway, Kyoko has 'befriended' Kanae! YAY! Okay. Sorry for any errors/confusion/all the OOC-ness. D: There's probably a lot. Hope you enjoyed, and thank you for the reviews. They make me happy :D **


	4. A Lack of Blue

**I do not own Skip Beat! or Ouran High School Host Club, or any other un/intentional references I might make!**

Ch 4: A Lack of Blue

It was true that Kanae had a problem – a problem that had two eyes, a nose, a mouth…and everything else a normal human was supposed to have. Coincidentally, that problem was a problem for everybody else at the Host Club. And last but not least, that problem had a problem herself.

Her bag was missing. It had been gone since the lunch break, when Hikaru had come to her class, inviting her out to lunch with his 'brothers'. She'd said no. He'd been disappointed, and his 'brothers' had just laughed. But during that short span of time when she was politely declining their invitation, her bag had gone missing. That meant she had no lunch, no books, and – Kyoko had screamed aloud, startling the Ishibashi brothers and earning a "Mo! What is your problem?" from an angry Kanae.

"It's gone! Mokoooo-saaaaannnn, CORN IS GONE!" Kyoko screeched in a terrified voice. The other students had already left for the cafeteria, but Kyoko's screams followed them down the halls, making them walk just a little faster. Kyoko mentally kicked herself for bringing Corn to school. It was her most important object, and she had foolishly brought it with her! It was all because, after the night's happiness and excitement had worn off, the morning light brought Kyoko oodles and oodles of nervousness. Corn was supposed to be there for moral support. But her bag was gone – _it_ was gone. She felt she should've at least put it in her pocket.

"MO! Would you quiet down! Are you missing your lunch? You keep on screaming 'Corn', 'Corn'! How can corn be so important?"

"Mookoo-sann…." wailed Kyoko, "…my bag disappeared! And I put Corn in there…and…and…"

"Kyo-kun, calm down! If you want, I'll buy you lunch!" Hikaru said, desperately trying to calm down the hysteric Kyoko as she ran around the room, looking underneath all the desks. When she heard him, Kyoko turned around, tears streaming out from her eyes.

"Nooo, I can't find Corn…h-howw how could I be so stupid?" she whimpered, blowing her nose on a tissue Hikaru offered to her. Hikaru looked down at Kyoko with a mix of fondness and sympathy. _How strange…that he's so vulnerable…_ Hikaru's heart thumped painfully and he jumped. _That…what was that…? _A hand waved in front of his face.

"Umm…Hikaru?" Yuusei asked, waving his hand again when prompted by Shin'ichi.

Hikaru turned and gave Yuusei and dazed look. "Yes?"

"Kyo-kun left already."

"Huh?"

"I said, he's already left!"

And Kyoko hadn't seen her bag since. It was now time for club activities, and Kyoko was still worried. She didn't know if she could personally entertain one of the Club's most important honored guests if Corn wasn't there to help her. She chewed on the bottom of her lip, and swiveled her head around, looking to see if her bag was anywhere in sight. No luck.

"Kyo-kun looks awfully agitated, doesn't he?" Yashiro commented in a whisper at Kanae and Hiou in between customers.

"Mo, why are you whispering, glasses-kun?" whispered Kanae, a fierce look on her face. Yashiro attempted to protest at her use of his nickname.

"Did something bad happen?" asked Hiou happily, cutting across. Kanae opened her mouth to explain, but a loud crash interrupted her. All three of them were startled when the subject of their attention suddenly jumped up from her chair, knocking it over. There were a few moments of tense silence, when the only sounds heard were the faraway chatter of the Ishibashi brothers and their customers, and the clinking of ice cubes. They sighed with relief when Kyoko picked up her chair and slumped back down, fidgeting with her tie. Ren entered the club's room then, buttoning up his blazer with a bored look. Yashiro immediately sent him a look that screamed, HELP. Ren raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked blandly, walking over to the trio.

"Kyo-kun's in trouble! Kotonami-san said he lost his bag during lunch and he has a customer coming soon! He can't host in the condition he's in right now. Just look!" Yashiro exclaimed, pointing over at Kyoko who was currently emitting a dark-purple aura. Then she bloomed flowers, threw herself on the ground, and starting sniffing around the chair like a dog. After that, she sighed and sat on the chair again. Ren wanted to laugh. Instead, he worked to place an even more indifferent expression on his face.

"So what?"

"Ren-san!" pleaded Yashiro. "You're the number one host here! You, of all people, should be able to snap him out of it before the guest comes! He's already scaring the Ishibashi brother's customers!"

"I refuse. Why should I help someone who joined this club for such impure reasons? We are all working hard preparing to sell ourselves at the end of the year Host Club Battle, all so we can succeed in our future careers. I do not think that somebody who wants to become a _host_ for revenge could possibly do well."

"You-" Kanae started, walking up to Ren with a glare. Hiou tried to comfort himself by thinking that Kanae was only defending Kyoko because Kyoko wasn't interested in girls, and therefore wasn't a danger to Kanae. It made more sense in his head.

"The principal would cry if he saw you behaving like that, Ren-san," Yashiro stated coolly, trying a different tactic. It worked. Ren stopped and sighed, imagining that frightening face. There was a possibility that the principal really would cry. Those puppy dog eyes and waterfall tears were things that he had yet to get used to, and he owed the principal too much.

"Fine, I got it," Ren grumbled at last. Behind him, Yashiro pumped his arms up in the air like a cheerleader, mouthing 'Go! Go!'. At least, that was until Kanae slapped his arms down.

"Mogami-san."

Kyoko was mentally going over all the places she could've left her bag, knowing that she had never left her classroom from the beginning of the morning classes to the beginning of lunch. And she had definitely had her bag at the beginning of the day. _Toilet? No….I didn't go! Maybe it was behind the potted plant…there aren't any potted plants in the classroom! Did the teacher steal it? Why? That teacher probably saw my Corn stone and got jealous…but what kind of teacher would do that to a poor student? Or maybe it was a jealous girl or maybe-"_

"Mogami-san!"

"Hyahaha!" Kyoko gasped, suddenly realizing that there was an inhumanly beautiful face a few mere inches away from hers. She grabbed the edges of her chair and scooted back to a more comfortable distance, with a set scowl on her face. She could see the man sigh, and thought that she probably offended him. She grudgingly pulled her chair up a foot.

"Mogami-san. You lost your bag. Am I correct?" asked Ren with what he hoped was a comforting smile as he knelt down in front of Kyoko. The smile only served to make Kyoko even more nervous, however, and she felt a sweat starting to break out on her forehead.

"Ye-yes…?" she answered cautiously.

"And you have a customer coming soon?" Her voice failing her, Kyoko nodded. Ren intensified the brightness of his smile and leaned a little closer.

"You certainly are brave, for choosing to continue being a host with such a disagreeable attitude, don't you think?" he prompted. Kyoko almost nodded again, but she digested his words.

"I will work hard!" her mouth said on its own. "NO! Or rather than that, I can-"

"Working hard won't cut it, Mogami-san. You must be able to embody the true spirit of a host, and you must find the face you wish to present to your customer. They can tell if you are reluctant to spend time with them. So let's start with that, shall we?"

"Wh-what? I can't! Not without – " Ren stopped smiling.

"Then leave. There are many who would love to be in your position, and it is only through the principal's recommendation that you have been accepted into this club."  
>"I can't do that either!" she protested. She had to obliterate Sho first. Only then…<p>

"Mogami-san, I think that with your face and height, you could do something of a refreshing cuteness. Hiou-kun is a similar type; however he is more of an arrogant brat than an innocent younger brother." Hiou bristled at those words.

"Wha-?" a clueless Kyoko asked.

"Considering that, try to give several sweet smiles to your customer. Be polite. You may call her 'Princess' or possibly 'Onee-san', or even 'Ruriko-chan'. Never disrespect your customer or they won't come back," Ren warned, randomly giving Kyoko advice that was going by too fast for her mind to fully process.

"You could even play from the angle of a poor street child, you know? Work with the details from your sad childhood or something. Oh. But try to stay with casual talk, and never accept a lady's invitation to her house. With that, I wish you good luck." Ren stood up and walked away, leaving behind an incredibly confused Kyoko.

That incredibly confused Kyoko was still confused when Matsunai Ruriko arrived.

"Kyo-kun!" hissed Kanae from the sidelines. Hearing her name, Kyoko shook her head like a dog (with Kanae thinking, _why is she suddenly adopting dog-like traits today? It's weird!_) and smiled brilliantly at Ruriko. She seemed caught by surprise, as was Hikaru, who had been checking on his new favorite kohai. Kyoko stood up quickly and pulled out a chair for Ruriko with a slight bow.

"Would you like anything, miss?" Kyoko asked, directing a smile at Ruriko from what she hoped was an appealing angle. Ruriko slowly sat down in the chair, wondering why she was feeling lightheaded all of a sudden. _No! It doesn't matter if he's cute! Ren's the one I want…and if Ren pays more attention to this guy than he does to me, I need to get rid of him! _It was better when they were both sitting down, with two glasses of tea. It was getting close to the end of July, and recently the club had started serving iced teas. Between them sat a gold-rimmed tray with a small, delicate – and expensive – looking glass teapot sitting in the midst of several pale pink and yellow roses. There was another plate stacked with colorful macarons, fresh, deep-red cherries, and sugar cubes for decoration.

Kyoko, absorbed in her role as a host, attempted to make small talk. Ruriko, in response, was determined to insult Kyoko with each comment.

"Is the tea to your liking, miss? We had it specially ordered for the beginning of summer," Kyoko said. A few ice cubes clinked together as Ruriko lifted her glass to her mouth, staring at Kyoko over the rim.

"It's wonderful. Although, I suppose it's more enjoyable to you; a scholarship student like yourself has probably never enjoyed such a luxury," she jabbed. Kyoko smiled, feeling just a little bit annoyed.

"On the contrary, I grew up in a traditional inn, so I had the pleasure of trying various types of teas…" Kyoko answered.

"An inn? How…interesting. And fitting. I could never grow up in a place like that! What if I had to go out into the sun? My skin would completely burn up! Even now, summertime is so dangerous to me. I would much rather stay in a nicely air-conditioned room. You're so lucky; obviously, your skin has been treated to the sun's rays quite often." Ruriko smirked. _Take that, you country bumpkin. _Instead of annoyance, Kyoko felt a stab of pity for the girl. _That sounds terrible! She's just like…a…a princess! One who has to stay inside, even when the weather is beautiful! She must have had a horrible childhood with such an affliction… I feel so sorry for her! _She was oblivious to the obvious stabs at her upbringing.

"Wow, that Ruriko girl is going all out on Kyo-kun," Hikaru murmured to Shin'ichi and Yuusei, from where they were observing over the backs of their chairs.

"He doesn't seem to notice though. Is that a good thing?" Shin'ichi muttered back. Yuusei grinned.

"But look, he's totally charming her. See that blush?" Indeed, there was a furious blush spread across Ruriko's face, although that was more due to the fact that her insults weren't working, than the fact that Kyoko's smile tended to multiply the amount of flowers and sparkles floating about in the air.

"He still has a long way to go, though," remarked Shin'ichi.

"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked, when Yuusei returned a knowing look.

"We'll let you in on something; we think that Kyo-kun's all sore because that Fuwa guy from Akatoki stole his girlfriend."

"Somebody left Kyo-kun for that jerk?" gasped Hikaru in disbelief. "I can't believe that!" Shin'ichi and Yuusei blinked.

"Are you saying that from a guy's perspective or from a girl's perspective?" Shin'ichi asked amusedly, trying not to laugh.

"Awwww, you're so cute, you little shorty!" Yuusei burst out, making no attempt to cover up his laughter. He wrapped an arm around Hikaru's neck and ruffled his hair with the other. Hikaru blushed to the tips of his ears and smacked the arms away.

"Get off me!"

"Oh, but in all seriousness, I did some observing the other day," Shin'ichi said, still smiling.

"What observing?" asked Hikaru and Yuusei together, immediately engaged.

"Fuwa Sho…he has the ability to make ten girls swoon at once, and can draw out longing sighs from even the hardest-hearted of girls with his love songs. The female teachers in his school are known for calling on him to read, just so they can faint at his low voice as he recites particularly arousing love poems," Shin'ichi told them dramatically. "Whooaaa," Yuusei said, clapping his hands together with a look of amazement on his face. Hikaru sighed, feeling sorry for Kyo-kun, who had so sadly lost against such a man.

"The Ishibashi brothers are so wonderful together, aren't they, Tsuruga-san?" a girl asked in awe, as she looked over her shoulder at the trio who were idly sitting at a table.

"Oh, but that new host isn't so bad either," another girl commented, "I've never seen Ruriko-chan react that way, and he's so…adorable! Ah! But I'll never request anyone but you, Ren-sama!" the girl continued, clearly flustered at the white-hot smile Ren had just sent her.

"Our host club is like a family; I am glad you are enjoying it," he said vaguely.

"It's amazing! Seeing you all together…it's like a whole lot of brotherly love or something!" a very enthusiastic girl said, clapping her hands together.

"Then I take it you're all coming back tomorrow?" Ren asked, with a half-smirk and a lazy look. He felt he had to at least vary his smiles sometimes. If he were a girl, he thought he'd get bored of a gentlemanly look all of the time. The effect was still the same with each type of smile though; all eleven of the girls around him blushed and nearly fainted on their couches. _Speaking of smiles_…he looked up and focused on Kyoko, who had chosen to go from a butler-like angle rather than playing the role of an obsessed younger brother. It kept the host from getting all too close to the customer, but… He shrugged.

The principal, watching everything on several LCD screens, rubbed his hands together and grinned, loving how everything was coming together. Kanae was intently watching Kyoko with her first customer, and even Hiou looked up once in a while from where he was 'tutoring' a girl with math. Oh, it was all going so wonderfully, just as he had wanted. He felt satisfied at the choice he had made in appointing Kyoko as the seventh host. Then he swiveled his chair around to another, larger screen and resumed playing his newest otome game.

**(A Large) AN: OTL I didn't even get to the part I wanted to and it's like 2,500 words of filler DX I'm sorrryyyy I don't know how it happeneeeedddd! (and there are probably a ton of errors too) *snifflesnffileee* Couldn't figure out another place to cut it off before it got too long, so there you have it. (Note: It's around July in the story. Did I already write that? ._. It's sorta hard trying to make things adjust to the Japanese school year. The order of events in the story would make more sense if I put it in America, but that would be strange.) Thank you for the faves and watches! It's nice to know people are reading :] Nooowwww, off to the next chapter which will hopefully have some substantial material! And some pie crust, as opposed to just pie filling. **


	5. Crying Over Spilled Tea

**I do not own Skip Beat! or Ouran High School Host Club, or any other un/intentional references I might make!**

Ch 4: Crying Over Spilled Tea

"Are you alright?" Kyoko asked in concern, tilting her head to the side. For a while, Ruriko had been silent. She was gritting her teeth and staring down at her hands, which were balled into fists underneath the table. Tears of anger where threatening to spill over at any moment. _Why? Why isn't anything working? Why can't I humiliate this Kyo guy like I want? He just sits there and smiles at me…it's infuriating! _Ruriko's head snapped up and she smiled coldly.

"You know…the truth is_, Kyo-chan_, that a commoner like you who suddenly joins the host club in the middle of the year and steals everybody else's attention shouldn't exist. What right do you have to be here? Trash like you can't exist in a garden of flowers," Ruriko said in a low voice, smiling as if she would love to throw Kyoko out the window at once. Kyoko was confused. _A princess? Or…an evil ogress? Is she joking? This girl is hard to understand…I thought I felt sorry for her…but…_

"Miss…could it be…that you're…_jealous _of me?" Kyoko asked hesitantly. It was like she had set off a ticking time bomb with one, careless step. Ruriko stopped smiling. She clenched her fists even tighter, until her knuckles were white. _"That's enough!"_ she muttered, under her breath. Ruriko grabbed the edge of the table, and extended a leg underneath, kicking at the table and pulling with all her might. It was chaos. The plate of macarons flew into the air, the pitcher of tea spilled, and glass cracked upon the tiles, causing several girls to shriek and the hosts to stand up. Somewhere along the way, the chairs had fallen over, and Kyoko had landed wide-eyed on top of a screaming Ruriko.

"SOMEONE GET HIM OFF ME! T-THIS PERVERT SUDDENLY ATTACKED ME!" Ruriko screeched at the top of her lungs, faking tears and thrashing about in between Kyoko's frozen arms.

"N-no!" whispered Kyoko. It couldn't end now! Not before she had a chance to become a fully-fledged host, not before the battle with Akatoki High, not before – She felt a splash of ice cold water hit her face. Kyoko looked down. Ruriko was gaping up above her, strands of dark brown hair sticking to her forehead.

"Wh-what…! Don't you know who I am…?" she sputtered in shock. Kyoko looked up in equally shocked confusion. Looking down at her were the angry faces of Kanae, Yashiro, and the Ishibashi brothers. Ren was standing behind them, looming over with a towel and a frightening smile. Kyoko, seeing that smile, unfroze herself and got up with an "eep!". She knelt to the floor in front of her fellow hosts and didn't hesitate to slam her forehead a good three inches into the tiles. Apparently, old habits died hard.

"I'm so sorry! I damaged your property, _again!_" And then she turned to Ruriko. "I'm sorry to you as well! I must've been impolite, and then I nearly crushed you! I didn't hurt you, right? Please say you're okay! Or else I'll never forgive myself for injuring one of our valued customers!" she wailed, bowing repeatedly to Ruriko, who sat, propped up on her elbows, gaping at the dripping-wet guy in front of her.

"You….why? Why won't you get mad at me?" she whispered, while the other hosts and a ring of curious girls looked on.

"Me…get mad at you? Why would I?" Kyoko asked in a clueless voice.

"I…I…" Ruriko winced. Ren knelt down, offered her a hand, and pulled her up, leaving Kyoko sitting on the floor in a puddle of glass and tea.

"Ruriko-san," he started gently. "…is forever banned from our Host Club," a grave voice said. Everybody looked in the direction of the voice, to see the principal in game-ad pajamas walking majestically through the sea of girls, who readily parted for him. Kanae sighed, rolled her eyes, and wiped Kyoko off with a towel after she had helped her up. Then, she turned to Ruriko, who had a large towel wrapped around her head, as she was blushing from shame.

"Kyo-kun isn't that type of person," Kanae said simply, fully aware of Kyoko's sexual orientation.

"Mookoo-san!" whimpered Kyoko in gratitude. _Maybe I won't get kicked out after all! If only…_

"And since you have hurt an important member of our club…" Hikaru stated.

"…and caused an unnecessary commotion…" Shin'ichi followed.

"…we have decided to ban you from coming back!" Yuusei finished. Ruriko tearfully nodded, having run out of steam after her failed plans.

"I'm sorry, Kyo-kun, for all the trouble I caused you." She bowed slightly, pulling the towel off from her head. Ruriko turned to Ren, and tugged on his sleeve. He bent down a little, and Ruriko tip-toed to whisper something in his ear. The Ishibashi brothers shared pointed looks at each other, and Yashiro was gleefully bouncing on his heels. Whatever Ruriko said caused Ren to look startled, and then slightly – and delightfully – embarrassed. He nodded at Ruriko and gently placed a hand on her head. Ruriko stepped outside the Host Club's ornate door and glanced back at Kyoko. This time, she smiled, a sparklingly cute, genuine smile.

"Someday I'll come back, and when I do, I'll finally deserve you, 'kay Kyo-kun?" she grinned and slipped outside into the halls, tears leaking out from the corner of her eyes. Kyoko stood where she was, her jaw gaping to the ground.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Congratulations, Kyo-kun!" exclaimed the principal, slapping a dripping Kyoko on the back. She jumped up and turned to face the very eccentric man. "Congratulations on your very successful first hosting session!"

"GYAHH! THE MESS!" she screamed, instead of acknowledging his praise. Kyoko magically changed into a mess-proof plastic outfit, complete with thick construction gloves and a gas mask. She hurriedly picked up the glass shards disposing them in a plastic container distinctly labeled 'Glass', conjured several towels to mop up the tea and water, righted the chairs and table, hand-washed, blow-dried and ironed the white tablecloth, set the tray and everything that hadn't been permanently soaked back on the table, and then sat back on her heels and sighed. The girls around her and the Ishibashi brothers oohed and ahhed and praised her as well.

"In what way was that meeting successful?" muttered Hiou, wondering how to react to Kyoko's strange habits.

"Because in that short time, he managed to change his customer completely. And look, he's already getting new requests," Kanae said softly, a gentle half-smile on her lips. Hiou looked up at her, completely awed. It was a new side of Kanae, one he hadn't seen before. Even if it was all due to Kyoko and not, him…The principal came up behind both of them and clapped them heartily on their backs. Hiou started and blushed, realizing what he was just thinking. Lory looked down at him and made a happy mental notation. _Oh, the pains of a crush on an older lady…_

"Good job! I'm glad you're beginning to realize such things, Kotonami-kun!" he said, laughing.

"P-principal…" she muttered, reverting to glaring. She couldn't believe it. She had actually praised Kyoko, a girl, about changing the emotions of Ruriko, another girl. She clutched at the nearest wall in frustration and horror. _What is happening to me?_

The rest of the afternoon passed without anymore eventful happenings, and the club closed their doors at 5:03 in a very uneventful way.

"I still can't find my bag," muttered Kyoko to herself in an angrily depressed manner as she clenched and unclenched her fingers. _That girl…!_ Now that she was no longer playing a host, Kyoko let her grudges fly around her, drinking in her anger at that despicable princess character that had obviously done something to her belongings and then had conveniently forgotten to tell her its location. She got up from her chair and paced around the club room, going faster and faster. Ren cleared his throat.

"Mogami-san, is that your bag?" Kyoko swiveled around and flew to where Ren was, in front of a large, golden-paned window.

"…!" she screamed, pressing her facing to the glass.

"Umm…" Ren smiled nervously in anticipation of what would happen next. "Down there." He pointed. Glass cracked.

"Ah! No, Mogami-san!" Ren restrained Kyoko's arms before she could jump out the window. _She sure likes damaging things and apologizing profusely afterwards…_ The struggling Kyoko turned around in his arms and whispered in a tear-choked voice, "My bag's in the water! What…what if – "

"Mogami-san, your books can always be – " Kyoko shook her head violently. "I don't care about my books!" she screamed, breaking out from Ren's grasp. Her voice had gotten the attention of the other club members, and also the principal who pressed the zoom button on his remote. Even Kanae and Yashiro stopped bickering over replacing the glass pieces that were previously destroyed and were now sending Kyoko worried looks. Kyoko shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. _"But…I can't forgive myself…if something happened to…" _

Kyoko ducked her head and brushed by Ren as she ran out of the room

"Kyo-kun!" several hosts shouted at once, standing up and making moves to follow. Ren held out an arm and shook his head a little. "I'll follow Mogami-san…everyone can stay here…" And he, too, dashed out of the room. The principal leaned forward eagerly, focusing on another screen that showed the school grounds in the late afternoon light.

Next to a few rose bushes was a large, rectangular pond. Spurting out from a tall, marble horse's mouth was a fountain of water. Without hesitating, Kyoko jumped in and ran to her bag. All the contents had fallen out and were spread in different parts of the pond._ No…_ The ankle-deep water, dyed orange and pink by the sunset, had soaked into her pants. She swiped a tear, sniffled, and rolled up her trousers to the knee. After a moment, she also tore off her blazer, kicked off her shoes and socks, and placed the whole package on the side of the pond. _It's going to take forever to collect everything…and get it to dry off…_ Kyoko was squeezing her eyes shut, trying to dismiss the image of a cracked and chipped Corn, when she heard a loud splashing noise. Kyoko's eyes snapped open, trying to see who it was through the blurriness of her tears.

"Mogami-san?" the blurred figure was still blurred, but at the sound of Ren's voice, Kyoko instinctively backed up around fifty steps. She heard a sigh and more sloshing water.

"Look, Mogami-san. I don't understand why you're so scared of me – " Kyoko muttered, "Your smiling, your height, that dark aura that everybody either ignores or doesn't notice…" "- but you really don't have to run away like a frightened animal everytime I get close. I'll acknowledge that I treated you coldly, but I'll accept you now, alright? And I'm here to help," he finished. Kyoko nodded mutely and began retrieving the notebooks floating around her feet.

"I wonder what they're saying," murmured Kanae. All of the club members had abandoned their prior activities in favor of peering out the windows. Hikaru shrugged, a nagging feeling in his chest. _I…I should've followed him! Why aren't I down there, helping Kyo-kun collect his things? _He ground his teeth and continued watching.

…

"Is this all?" Ren asked, rolling up his sleeves again. On the marble pavement beside the pond was an assortment of notebooks, textbooks, and cases. Kyoko didn't answer and kept moving her hands about in the water. Ren quietly let out a sigh and waded back into the pond. _I hope he doesn't catch a cold from this. We've been searching for almost an hour and that would be a bad thing to happen right before break…_ The sky was beginning to darken, and despite it being summer, it was getting colder and harder to see. Kyoko began to feel a little panicked.

"It's…it's not here," she whispered, not letting herself collapse into hysteria. Not just yet.

"What's not here?" Ren questioned. A name fell from Kyoko's lips. _"Corn." _The named caused Ren to feel a stir of recognition in his heart. _It can't be. Definitely not. He's talking about something else…_ Still, he gave Kyoko an uneasy look as he said, "I'll help you look. How does it look like?"

"No! Tsuruga-san! You don't have to go through so much trouble! Just go home!"

Ren stopped her. "Tell me, Mogami-san. I'm not leaving until you do." Kyoko opened her mouth, then bit her lip and closed her eyes.

"It's…a little red pouch…with a metal clasp at the top…"

"Got it. Where have you searched?"

"Just…just around the statue," she told him quietly. He nodded and searching in silence commenced once again.

"Is this it?" Ren asked a few moments later, holding up a dripping pouch into the air. Kyoko gasped "…corn…" She ran forward and took the pouch from Ren's outstretched hand, ignoring the jolt she got when their fingers touched. Ren rubbed his hands in distracted confusing. _Static electricity?_

Kyoko fumbled with the clasp in between her slippery fingers and opened the pouch. Sitting inside, slightly damp but otherwise unharmed, was Corn. _Thank goodness…Corn…you're safe… _Her knees suddenly felt weak and she thought she could collapse in relief. Ren's mouth opened slightly when he saw that flash of bright blue-purple from in between Kyoko's fingers as she clasped the small stone to her chest.

_This…it has to be a coincidence…_ Kyoko turned her face up to meet his eyes. "Tsuruga-san…thank you…thank you so much!" she said hoarsely, through a veil of tears hiding her golden eyes. She wiped a tear from her face with the back of her hand and smiled. _"Thank you…" _

Ren almost stumbled back. Gold and blue, two colors he would never forget. Words he had never forgotten. His heart nearly stopped.

_It can't be. _

__**AN: And then there were two! Yay! Poor Ren, of course it is. You know what comes next right? FLASHBACK TIME! I also put a little bit of foreshadowing in there :) try and see if you can find it. 'Kay. So tired I'm almost hyper. Why am I updating now? Urgh. G'night. I probably should've finished my alg2 hw before doing this XD Hope you enjoyed reading so far (and keep on reading!). Seeya in the next chapter. Which probably won't be uploaded for a while.  
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	6. The Grass is Greener

**I do not own Skip Beat! or Ouran High School Host Club, or any other un/intentional references I might make!**

Ch 6: The Grass Is Greener

The little pig-tailed girl swirled the clear water with her finger, listlessly looking at the dull rocks lying on the bottom of the river. Her eyes, half-closed, seemed just as dull as the rocks. Once in a while, a tear would slip out of and a twisted look of pain would contort her features until she sniffled softly and wiped the tear away. In the distance, a voice fraught with worry was calling her name, but the girl only bent her head down a little more and ignored the voice. Neither did she look up when behind her, soft feet crunched leaves along the river's edge.

"Are you okay?" a gentle, accented voice asked quietly, as if hesitant to disturb the girl. The girl continued to swirl the water, shaking her head.

"What's wrong?" the voice asked again. The girl only shook her head again. She heard the person kneel down behind her.

"My parents left me," she said in a muted voice, wiping her wet fingers on the frayed edge of her jumper. She turned to face the stranger who was talking to her and almost gasped.

"Are you a fairy prince?" she asked in awe, her tears almost forgotten at the sight of the tall, blonde boy before her, staring down with a kind smile. He looked vaguely surprised for a moment, then amused.

"My name is Kuon. What is yours?"

"M-mogami…Kyoko…It's a pleasure to meet you, Corn-san." She tried to bow politely from her crouched position but almost fell over. The action was enough to bring back a flood of unwelcome feelings. A shadow passed over her face and she looked like she would burst into tears.

"Ah…Corn is just fine…Kyoko?" he asked. She was focused too much on squelching down the pain that was rising in her to correct the use of her first name…but it was alright. She looked up once the moment had passed and tried to breathe again. He was a fairy prince.

"You can talk to me," the blonde stranger prompted, hints of kind laughter in his voice.

"I…I can?"

"If you tell me about your problems, then I'll talk to you about my problems. Deal?"

After staring at him for a moment, the girl nodded slowly.

"Mommy and daddy died," she said in a whisper, after a silence. The boy felt a pang of pity in his heart for the girl. He silently watched as her little fists balled up and tears streamed out of her eyes.

"They left me! They…they wouldn't let me come with them…and…and then….why?" the girl turned up a tear-stained face up at him.

"Why did they do that to me? They…always promised they'd be with me…I…I hate them!" she screamed, bursting out into loud sobs. The boy moved forward, thinking about his own parents. He understood this girl, he felt as if he could know her pain. And he wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders and rested his chin on her head.

"It'll be alright," he whispered.

…

The ceiling was spinning. Or was he spinning? Ren tried to prop himself up on his elbows but collapsed back down onto his stack of pillows, dizziness and nausea overcoming his senses. _Are those spiders? _He wondered dimly to himself as black spots crawled into his vision. Reaching up a hand, he tried to shoo away the spiders. He didn't like spiders, really. They…crawled too much. Instead, something soft and cool clutched his hands and he inwardly jumped.

"Tsuruga-san!" He cocked his head to one side. Somebody was calling him? _Ah. Must be those spiders._

"Hello, Spider-chan. How may I help you?" He laughed weakly, and then coughed as he tried to get up again. Everything…hurt. Two hands pushed him back to the pillow and a wet cloth landed on his burning head. It wasn't long before he fell asleep again, dreaming of a girl, a boy, and a river. _And spiders._

Kyoko looked down at the man in front of her as his eyebrows twitched in his sleep and he muttered incomprehensible things to himself. _Spider-chan? _She frowned, wiping her damp hands on the front of her sweater. Turning away from the bed, she clutched a used cloth in her hand and fumed.

It was at 7:30 AM that Kyoko had received a call from the principal. She hadn't expected to be woken up so early. After all, it was Sunday, and Kyoko had no plans but to stay at…home…and help out in the kitchen.

"Whaaa-" she mumbled groggily into the phone, not fully awake but unable to ignore the loud sounds the vibrating phone had made on the table.

"Kyo-kun, are you awake?" a friendly voice boomed from the other end.

"Principal-sannnn, how do you know my phone number?" she asked.

"…I was the one who gave it to you, in case you forgot…" Lory answered, waiting for the girl to wake up completely before he asked her for help.

"Hahahahahaha that's right isn't it…do you need something?" she inquired, stretching out her legs as she fumbled for a pair of socks. She waited for a reply. _Eh? Did he hang up? _Kyoko looked down at the phone in her hand and pressed it again to her ear, waiting. She was spacing out and debating whether or not to just hang up and wait for him to call back when -

"****************************************!"

Lory grinned to himself as he played in unison squealing tires, trumpeting elephants, angry gorillas, and scraping fingernails into his end of the phone.

"GYAYAYAHAHHAHAH!" screamed Kyoko, as she finally woke up to the mess of sound. She bounced up and ignored the cramping in her left leg.

"Principal-san! Good morning! What brings you to talk on this wonderfully beautifully happy morning?"

"Kyo-kun, I need to ask a favor." Kyoko clutched the phone to her ear and leaned forward a little.

"Yes?" She listened for a moment and her eyes grew wide.

"NOOOOO!" she wailed, dropping to the floor on her knees as she begged her ceiling not to have to do this.

"Kyo-kun," said Lory, rubbing his forehead, "as the newest member of this host club, it is your duty to help your senpai when he's sick. And besides, it is mostly your fault he is lying in bed at home."

"M-m-my fault? What do you mean?" Kyoko asked, a sinking feeling like a boulder in her stomach.

"Didn't he spend a couple of hours in the water two days ago, helping _you _search for your things?"

"Oh," she replied in a small voice.

"So are you going?" Kyoko tried to imagine what would happen if she didn't help. Would she be kicked out? Would she…lose her only chance at beating Sho? If all it took was to take care of one bed-ridden senpai…

"Yes…."

And so here she was. Ren opened up his eyes a little and tried to clear his head. One face bounced in and out of focus. He'd been dreaming about this person lately, he was sure…ever since…that day when he was helping her search in the pond for her precious stone. Those memories he hadn't forgotten. But his head hurt too much to figure out anything else, and he felt like there were cotton balls stuffed up his nose and eyes.

"Grmmmhrmmm…Kyokoo…." He murmured, trying to focus on the face in front of him. Kyoko jumped and almost dropped the new towel in her hand. _Did…did he just call me…Kyoko?_ She stopped. And laughed it off. _No, of course not. I just heard wrong! I probably have dust in my ears or something. Hahaha. Hah. It was probably him just saying Kyo-kun! Yes! That's right! _

"Don't try to talk so much," she said soothingly, kneeling down at his bedside. She was determined to completely nurse Ren back to health. After all, the club was counting on her to do this…

"Why not?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"Eh…because you're sick…?" Kyoko answered. Ren blinked slowly and sent an off-focus stare in Kyoko's general direction.

"Sick? Hah. Impossible." He returned to closing his eyes and watching the black spots that feverishly crawled across his vision. _Spiders?_ Ren didn't notice Kyoko glaring at him until he opened up his eyes again.

"So you're not sick. Hmph. What are you doing in bed, then?"

"…what am I doing in bed? Good question." He got up and scooched closer to the wall behind him so he could lean on it.

"Tsu-ru-ga-san!" Kyoko said in a frustrated voice. Her maternal instincts took over, and she let her grudges out, getting them to pin Ren back down to the pillows. He was feeling too weak to complain, and the wet cloth Kyoko put on his head felt good.

"I've never gotten sick before," he muttered, later, as she

"And now you are," she answered. Grabbing a thermometer from the ground beside her, she wiped it off and held it against Ren.

"You're completely burning up!" she exclaimed. And then she remembered that it really was all her fault.

"Are you crying?" Ren asked in a confused way as he watched the girl at his bedside bite down her lip as tears streamed out of her eyes like two gushing waterfalls.

"III'MMM SOO SORRRYYY TSSSUUURRRGGAAAA-SAAAAANNNNN! YOU'RE SICK BECAUSE…BECAUSE….I MADE YOU SEARCH FOR CORN WITH ME!" she buried her head into his blankets. Ren silently watched, half-amused. _At least she's not trying to destroy any of my furniture…Ah. Spoke too soon._ Kyoko banged her head on Ren's wall. He sighed, and mustering up a little bit of strength, reached out and grabbed her arm. Kyoko stopped as her skin blazed uncomfortably.

"You…it's not your fault…I wanted to help you, didn't I?" he smiled. Kyoko edged away from that dazzling smile Ren had put on. He dropped her arm.

"But…Tsuruga-san?" He was already asleep. Kyoko looked at his sleeping form a little more, left the room. She thought he would be hungry when he woke up.

…

**A/N: **…i-it's…been so long D:…. To those of you that actually read this, I'M SOOOO SORRRRRYYYYYYYY! And this chapter is sorta bad too *cries* Ummm…but since it's summer vacation now, I'll try to put some more effort into finishing this fic.

….so byee. Hopefully I'll be able to put something worthwhile and interesting up next time. *awkwardly leaves*


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